The international crew of Crew-10 almost made it into space tonight, but the launch was scrubbed less than an hour before liftoff because of a ground-side hydraulic issue. Another attempt is possible tomorrow, but they need to determine what is required to fix the problem.
The rocket was fine, the spacecraft was fine, but something went awry with a clamp arm on the transporter erector to which the rocket is attached until close to liftoff.
The issue was identified about 4 hours before the scheduled liftoff at 7:48 pm ET, but SpaceX and NASA hoped it could be resolved in time for launch.
At about 7:05 pm ET, however, the crew was notified the launch was scrubbed. Commander Anne McClain (NASA), Pilot Nichole Ayers (NASA), and Mission Specialists Takuya Onishi (JAXA) and Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos) seemed to take the news in stride as they prepared to exit the spacecraft.
Crew-10, L-R: Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos), Nichole Ayers (NASA), Anne McClain (NASA), Takuya Onishi (JAXA). Screengrab.
They can try again tomorrow, March 13, at 7:26 pm ET or Friday, March 14, at 7:03 pm ET, but a decision won’t be made until they determine what steps are needed to fix the clamp arm.
Crew Dragon Endurance atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center, March 12, 2025, with Crew-10 still inside. The transporter erector is the tall, white structure on the left.
SpaceX’s transporter erector moves the rocket to the launch pad and raises it into a vertical position.
When they do launch, Crew-10 will travel to the International Space Station and replace Crew-9: NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who arrived on the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test in June, and NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’s Aleksandr Gorbunov who arrived in September.
Last Updated: Mar 12, 2025 7:39 pm ET